Thailand has just passed a new law that prohibits smoking in public places - this includes hotel lobbies, offices, restaurants and cafes, private karaoke rooms (hooray), massage parlors and spas , bus stops , MRT and the Skytrain and any indoor air-conditioned facility where the public congregates. The ban excludes bars, nightclubs and in general, places of public entertainment. Supposedly there is a fine of 2000 baht (approx 60USD) for the individual offender and a fine of 20,000 Baht (approx 600USD) for the establishment which does not comply with this new law. As a nonsmoker who abhors cigarette smoke, I relish the idea of going into any restaurant in Thailand and enjoying my meal in a smoke free environment. That being said, the new law looks good on paper but I see some serious problems in terms of enforcement. I am praying to the Great Buddha in the sky that this new law will get enforced!

Not too many people realize that 2nd hand smoke is equally harmful as actually smoking a cigarette. To give you some idea - on my most recent trip to Thailand, I developed a bad case of smoker’s cough after I was inadvertently accommodated in a room for 6 days at The President Park Hotel in Bangkok that had been occupied by smokers. For the next 10 days or so, I had a very bad hacking cough. In addition, I had to tolerate the many European tourists - especially the French, German and Dutch- who seemingly have no hesitation about lighting up a cigarette as soon as they are seated at a restaurant. Most of these smokers are a very inconsiderate lot I hate to say - many will refuse to stop smoking even if politely asked.

Case in point - On my second day of my slow boat journey on the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, there was this Euro dude seated 2-3 rows ahead of me who pulled out a smoke shortly after the boat pulled away from the dock. As I was sitting downwind from him, I ended up having to ‘eat” his smoke. After watching him go through two cigarettes in a span of 15 minutes, I politely asked him to please refrain from smoking (I told him I that I was allergic to cigarette smoke). Well, the bloke stopped for about 10 minutes before he started smoking again. During the course of the next 7-8 hours, he must have smoked at least 20 cigarettes. Kind of rude and inconsiderate if you ask me but I didn’t say a word after that - I just covered my nose with my hand every time he lit one up, swearing under my breath. If this new nonsmoking ordinance is enforced, maybe this bloke would think twice about smoking if he had to pay a fine of 60USD. Oh well…

Now if they only could do something about the toxic exhaust fumes from automobiles, tuk-tuks and motorbikes that make the air so deadly to breathe in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Wishful thinking…. Happy New Year Everybody!

One of the highest moments that I had in Luang Prabang was when I walked into a classroom of young kids, ages 6-7, from the Khmu tribe, one of the largest ethnic minorities in Laos. The children were learning to speak Lao, a foreign language for them but the primary language in this small Southeast Asian country. These children, who probably had met very few visitors from the West in their brief lifetime, radiated with pure joy and happiness as they greeted me with smiling faces and the customary ‘Sabai dee” (which is equivalent to Hello in English). I answered back in rudimentary Thai (which is similar to Lao) “Phom Hanumann, Ling Yai (the big monkey)”, to which they “waiied me” and replied in unison - “Sabai dee, Ling yai”.

Unfortunately due to a bad leg, I wasn’t able to cover the Royal Flora Expo like I wanted to. Based on a brief 3-hour walk through, I wasn’t terribly impressed. To be fair, I reserve judgment, as I really didn’t get a chance to see that much - including the much-ballyhooed orchid exhibit and the display gardens from Japan and Thailand among others.

While flying home from Thailand on Eva Airlines, I met this middle aged Thai gentleman named Sid who lived in Houston. We talked about a variety of topics including his very favorable experience at the Royal Flora Expo. He raved about the orchid exhibit and some of the show gardens including the one from Japan and Indonesia, which took the top honors at the Expo. Obviously, Sid had a little more time to explore the vast grounds of the Expo than I did and had a chance to check out some of the more interesting exhibits. Just goes to show you that everyone has a different experience and that you cannot judge a book by its cover.

During my recent trip to Thailand, I went on a mission to find the best vegetarian Pad Thai in the country. And the winner is:

#1 Sri Rung Reung.
Located in Kanchanaburi, Sri Rung Reung is one of the most popular restaurants in this small tourist town as evidenced by the lack of empty tables on any given night. Their vegetarian Pad Thai is to die for - zesty stir-fried noodles with sumptuous chunks of tofu , laced with tender strips of bell and chili pepper. Hmm

Runners up:
Selima in Mae Salong and Joy Luck Club in Bangkok

While I was in Thailand recently, I received some treatment from a Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Clinic in Chiang Mai for tendonitis of the right knee. The day before I visited the clinic, my tendonitis flared up so bad at the Royal Flora Expo, that it was so painful for me to walk without uttering a grunt every time I took a step.

The clinic, MUNGKALA, was convienently located a block or two away from Moon Muang Road near Taphae Gate. The doctor gave me acupuncture treatments around the right knee and quadriceps on two consecutive days and prescribed some Chinese herbal medicine. I am guessing that the acupuncture treatment helped somewhat, but obviously now that I have returned to the United States, I will probably have to receive ongoing treatment for up to a month or so.

The total cost for this treatment was a drop in the bucket by US standards. I paid a total of 1800 baht ($50USD) - included a 200 baht registration fee, two acupuncture treatments of about 30 minutes duration per @ 500 baht per session and a 4 week supply of medicine for 600 baht. What a deal!

MUNGKALA -Traditional and Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Clinic.
21-27 Rajchamanka Road, Chiang Mai
Tel: 05327-8494 E-mail: mungkala @cm.ksc.co.th

An informal poll was recently conducted to determine the two most dangerous things about Bangkok. According to the poll, the two most dangerous things were:

#1 Sidewalks

Walking in Bangkok can be very dangerous to your health. Besides inhaling the noxious air into your lungs, one must keep be very careful where you step. The sidewalks tend to be very narrow and in various states of disrepair. Watch out carefully for concrete protrusions, unexpected abutments in the pavements and raised saucers, which supposedly help in draining excess waters in case of a deluge. In addition, watch out for sleeping dogs. I have had several close calls while navigating down the Sukhumvit and near my hotel President Park on Sukhumvit Soi 22. When walking on the streets of Bangkok, I have learned to keep one eye on the sidewalk and one eye on oncoming pedestrians.

#2 Motorbike taxis

In order to beat the heavy traffic congestion in downtown Bangkok, hiring a motorbike taxi is very tempting. But if you watch carefully how most of these daredevils recklessly weave in and out of traffic at breakneck speeds, you will realize how dangerous a proposition this is. I have even seen some of these motorbike taxis ride on the sidewalk in order to avoid the congested street traffic. Believe me, you take your life in your hands when you ride a motorbike taxi. However, if you’d like to go that route, by all means make sure that that you are provided with a protective helmet.

Factoid: The leading cause of serious injury and death in Bangkok is the motorbike taxi.

In Mae Salong, the Yunnanese village located in the mountains of Northern Thailand’s Golden Triangle region, many visitors flock to Mae Salong Villa to sample their cuisine for lunch or dinner. Perched on a hillside overlooking town with views of the surrounding tea plantations and the magnificent Mae Salong temple, Mae Salong Villa’s reputation as the best Chinese restaurant in Chiang Rai province is well deserved.

While I have eaten dinner at Mae Salong Villa a number of times, overall my favorite restaurant in the area has to be Salema , a small family owned eatery, which offers a variety of Thai and Chinese dishes at local prices. Located on the main road about 300 meters east past the turn off to the Mae Salong temple, the food at Salema is very tasty and healthfully prepared according to the Halal (Muslim dietary laws) and is definitely vegetarian friendly (Hey, they even have brown rice here). Their vegetarian Pad Thai dish is one of the best I’ve had in Thailand and their stir fried shitake mushroom dish is to die for. Your monies will go a long way here as most entrees are priced between 35 - 70 baht (1-2 USD), and the people who work at this small cafe are very friendly and accommodating. As a side note, in an area where almost 99% percent of the inhabitants are Buddhists and animists, the family who run this small cafe are Muslim.

If you’re in the Me Salong, I recommend that you eat at both Mae Salong Villa and Salema.Tell’ em Hanumann, “Ling Yai” sent you!

Factoid: In the Arabic language, Salema means peace and purity .

They were playing an Elvis Presley’s Christmas song in the passenger loading area of MRT, Bangkok’s underground subway system. While Thailand is predominantly a Buddhist county - about 96% of the population are Buddhists - there are a small number of expatriates from Western Countries (including Europe, Australia and North America) who live and work in Bangkok. I guess that the powers that be were trying to accommodate this small segment of the population ‘the expatriate farangs”.

Still I chuckled to myself, hearing Elvis singing Merry Christmas in such an inappropriate place -Bangkok’s subway.

‘It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value..”

While reading Sunday’s edition of the Bangkok Post, an English newspaper published daily in Bangkok, I found this interesting quote by the famous Science Fiction writer and scientest, Arthur C Clarke, featured prominently on the front page of the Outlook Section (Entertainment) under the byline ‘Quotable”.

I found it absolutely hilarious that a quote like this would end up in the most widely read English newspaper in Thailand. And I chuckled as I read this quote as I am in total agreement with the esteemed Mr. Clarke. Man is one of the newest species on this planet and his intelligence may lead to his eventual extinction or he could vanish in a heartbeat just like the dinosaurs, and the insects will inherit the earth. Oh well…

While having dinner at Just for the Fun of It, a small local eatery in Vientiane, I happened to notice a young boy behind the retaining wall just to the side of my table. Holding some sort of blue tubing in front of his face, I found this boy to be quite interesting, so I took the liberty of taking several pictures of him. Sensing that the young lad was probably hungry, I asked the young waitress to ask him if he’d like to have something to eat. The boy shyly smiled and nodded yes, so I invited him to join me at my table and to select anything on the menu to eat.

Using the waitress as interpreter, I was able to piece together a mini life story of this young boy who was probably about 8 years old. His name was Sa - he recently came to Vientiane from the rural countryside, having lost both of his parents and was living in a center for homeless kids. His father was an alcoholic and drank himself to death, and his mother, saddened by the loss of her husband, apparently died shortly thereafter. I am guessing she committed suicide. Anyhow, poor Sa was alone in the big city and now he meets a farang by the name of Hanumann having dinner in downtown Vientiane. Apparently, the facility where Sa stays only provides the children with lunch - a dish of fried rice with vegetables- but no breakfast or dinner.

As soon as we finished dinner, I waved goodbye to Sa as we went our separate ways - I returned to my comfortable hotel and Sa returned to ‘the orphanage”.

Please note that at no time did Sa beg for money or for food.